RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Patient safety culture assessment in the nursing home
JF Quality and Safety in Health Care
JO Qual Saf Health Care
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 400
OP 404
DO 10.1136/qshc.2006.018408
VO 15
IS 6
A1 S M Handler
A1 N G Castle
A1 S A Studenski
A1 S Perera
A1 D B Fridsma
A1 D A Nace
A1 J T Hanlon
YR 2006
UL http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/15/6/400.abstract
AB Objective: To assess patient safety culture (PSC) in the nursing home setting, to determine whether nursing home professionals differ in their PSC ratings, and to compare PSC scores of nursing homes with those of hospitals. Methods: The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture was modified for use in nursing homes (PSC-NH) and distributed to 151 professionals in four non-profit nursing homes. Mean scores on each PSC-NH dimension were compared across professions (doctors, pharmacists, advanced practitioners and nurses) and with published benchmark scores from 21 hospitals. Results: Response rates were 68.9% overall and 52–100% for different professions. Most respondents (76%) were women and had worked in nursing homes for an average of 9.8 years, and at their current facility for 5.4 years. Professions agreed on 11 of 12 dimensions of the survey and differed significantly (p<0.05) only in ratings for one PSC dimension (attitudes about staffing issues), where nurses and pharmacists believed that they had enough employees to handle the workload. Nursing homes scored significantly lower (ie, worse) than hospitals (p<0.05) in five PSC dimensions (non-punitive response to error, teamwork within units, communication openness, feedback and communication about error, and organisational learning). Conclusions: Professionals in nursing homes generally agree about safety characteristics of their facilities, and the PSC in nursing homes is significantly lower than that in hospitals. PSC assessment may be helpful in fostering comparisons across nursing home settings and professions, and identifying targets for interventions to improve patient safety.